English Language Debut For The 2008 Palme d’Or Winner
“The Class” helmer Laurent Cantet will be making his English language debut with an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates‘ 1993 novel “Foxfire: Confessions Of A Girl Gang.”
It’ll mark a resurgence in popularity for author Oates who has Andrew Dominik‘s gestating adaptation of her 2000 novel “Blonde” — a Pulitzer Prize-nominated fictional work based on the life of Marilyn Monroe — in the works as well as this after a 1985 Joyce Chopra adaptation of her short story “Smooth Talk” starring Laura Dern.
Adapted for the screen once before by Annette Haywood-Carter in her 1996 film starring Angelina Jolie and Jenny Lewis among others, ‘Foxfire’ follows the story of a group of headstrong, adolescent girls who grow up amidst violence and frustration in 1950’s upstate New York and go onto form the titular Firefox gang; a female-only society recognized by the flame tattooed on the back of member’s shoulders. It’s a subject that seemingly has a lot of room for error but Cantet showed a deft hand for honestly portraying adolescent lives in “The Class” and we think his involvement promises good things.
Unlike the first film though which translated the story to the Pacific Northwest in the ’90’s, Cantet’s adaptation will retain the period setting with lensing reportedly set to take place in Canada in the spring of 2011. ‘Foxfire’ is currently in pre-production and will reunite Cantent with Memento Films International after their past successes. A return to Cannes for Cantet then? [ScreenDaily]